Kumar: I placed body near trash bin

Neighbor says another man killed woman, threatened him

STOCKTON - A man accused of savagely beating and stabbing a female neighbor to death and dumping her nude body near a trash bin gave a complicated account of that night to a jury, blaming someone else for the slaying and saying that man then forced him to help get rid of the body.

STOCKTON - A man accused of savagely beating and stabbing a female neighbor to death and dumping her nude body near a trash bin gave a complicated account of that night to a jury, blaming someone else for the slaying and saying that man then forced him to help get rid of the body.

Deputy District Attorney Thomas Testa has been laying out evidence against 42-year-old Rajesh Kumar for two weeks, charging him with the murder and torture of Valida Raynette Irvin.

Kumar took the stand in his own defense Tuesday, first telling his side of the story and later trying to answer for contradicting statements he has made.

And if Kumar was telling the truth, Testa proposed, then why in all the opportunities hadn't he called police?

Kumar and Irvin rented separate units at Cypress Apartments in the 1100 block of Rosemarie Lane, and, according to Kumar, they were good friends.

Kumar, dressed in a blue suit and tie, said he asked Irvin on the night of April 30, 2011, to give him a ride to the Galt flea market the next morning. Because he was unemployed, he planned to sell a collection of wares at the market to help pay his rent. He also said Irvin had given him shoes, jewelry, old coins and other items to sell about two weeks prior.

Kumar said he visited Irvin twice on the day of the slaying - about 4 or 5 p.m. and again at 9 or 10 p.m. In between, he rode his bicycle to get food and during that trip, he sustained injuries in a fall from his bike.

Kumar said the two hung out that evening, watched television, drank wine, smoked cigarettes and discussed the trip to the flea market.

They ended up in Kumar's apartment.

That's when, according to Kumar, the night turned violent after a man he said was Irvin's boyfriend or ex-boyfriend entered his apartment and began to argue with the victim.

"I decided to leave them alone," Kumar said. He said that when he returned to the living room from his restroom, Irvin was bleeding from her nose and lip.

Kumar said he grabbed the man in a headlock, at which point Irvin bit Kumar's right bicep acting in defense of the other man.

"I said, 'Why did you do that?'" Kumar testified. "And she had no answer."

Kumar said he then left them alone to work it out. This time, he went outside to smoke. Sometime later, he heard: "Raj, help me ... somebody (expletive) help me."

When he walked in, Kumar said, "At that time, I remember, she was totally nude and had tape on her mouth." He said that's when he witnessed the man slash her throat.

Kumar admitted to being the one in surveillance video loading Irvin's car. Kumar placed her body in a plastic box, placed the box in her car, dumped her body near a trash bin and then drove away in the car, he said. But he described his actions as being orchestrated by the other man.

"He said, 'You are next if you don't listen to me,'" Kumar said, speaking in a matter of fact tone and using hand gestures.

The other man "said 'I take this (expletive) with me' or something," Kumar said. Kumar said he was shocked, scared of the man who was armed with a knife and a gun, and that he has high blood pressure.

"How can I get away? My legs were shocked ... nobody runs faster than bullets."

Kumar said the man told him: "If you tell anybody, I will come back to you." And then the man dropped him off near a 7-Eleven store.

Kumar said he walked home after making a stop at 7-Eleven. He wiped a bloody knife with a cloth and placed it in the dishwasher; he placed a bloody carpet in the bathtub with bleach; and he threw away Irvin's bloody clothes.

But Kumar's account is not believable, prosecutors said.

Testa began an intense and skeptical line of cross-examination.

"You say this man did all of this," Testa asked. "He's just done this in your apartment ... and do you run for help?"

Testa further asked why, when Kumar went to Irvin's apartment after her attack to grab her car keys, as he said he was ordered, he didn't he instead go to a neighbor, or lock himself up, or look for Irvin's phone to call police.

Kumar said he was too afraid that the man would come back for him, and then he was scared he would be arrested for the murder.

"This whole idea of shadowing, you're just making that up today aren't you?" Testa asked, to which Kumar insisted he was not lying.

"We don't see this man in the video, do we?" Testa asked

Kumar maintained the man, although he didn't appear in surveillance footage, was around watching.

Testa also peppered Kumar with inconsistencies between the defendant's court testimony and statements he had made to police.

Testa continues his cross-examination today, and attorneys are expected to give closing arguments Thursday. So far, the trial is on schedule to come to a close Friday.

If convicted of the charges, Kumar faces a potential maximum life term in state prison.